JusticeMinisterSpinWatch Update: Turns out that a departmental news release can be too partisan for Wayne Wouters

 

So, what, exactly, was the "swift action [that] was ... taken to clarify that it reflected the views of the Minister and not the Department of Justice"? They changed the headline.

The original version of the press release employed what can only be described as the passive-yet-partisan voice: "NEW SENATORS TO HELP END OPPOSITION OBSTRUCTION OF LAW-AND-ORDER BILLS". The Wouters-ed down version, which can be read here, strikes a distinctly more positive -- and less political -- tone: "MINISTERS WELCOME NEW SENATORS TO HELP SUPPORT LAW-AND-ORDER BILLS".

Other than that, the text of the release itself doesn't appear to have been touched, most likely because, as the clerk explains in his response, it is, after all, "common practice for government news releases to contain quotes from ministers," who are, apparently, permitted to be as partisan as they like, provided they keep it inside quotation marks.  

So, will the after-the-fact edits be enough to mollify Jennings? Somehow, that seems unlikely, considering that she specifically requested that Wouters "instruct the Department of Justice to remove the January 29, 2010 press release from the department's website," and "issue instructions to this department and all others that this kind of partisanship in communications products issued by non-partisan departments and agencies will not be tolerated in the future." Still, at least she scored a minor victory -- and you can bet that she, and everyone else, will be paying a little bit more attention to the wording of department-issued news releases in future. It's just too bad that Wouters' response wasn't released in time for yesterday's ministerial press conference, or we could have asked Nicholson all about it. 

UPDATE: According to the indefatigable Kathryn May, Jennings is, at least officially, "pleased" with the response, and will be encouraging her colleagues to "monitor government communications."